Saturday, March 14, 2009

To Do a Very Hard Thing

With a few recent accidents at open level crossings between trains and various road vehicles there's been quite a bit of stuff on the news about how one should not ignore or try to race the lights on a railway crossing. There's also been a pretty busy schedule of community service announcements based along the same theme.

It's probably those things that made it so hard this week when I came up to the flashing lights on the crossing and a man in a fluoro jacket waved me across.

I didn't want to do it.

Didn't he know that crossing against the flashing red lights is bad?

Couldn't he understand that I am programmed to comprehend and obey all traffic control devices?

But how much did I want to stay waiting for the lights to change with a growing line of traffic behind me?

... Approximately None

And yes, this piece of inane rubbish is about the only thing that was remotely bloggable during the last week. My life is very, very sad.

11 comments:

I once went through a rail crossing whilst the light was flashing... I had absolutely not realised it was indeed flashing!!! Thankfully it was not a train going past, just one of those little rail car things. He honked me good though..... I had a mild heart attack & am now very wary at that particular [hardly ever used] rail crossing!!

I HATE it when people change the road rules on me, like when people give way to you when they're the ones with right of way. I fear they're going to let me go then change their minds and plough into me. The police would never believe my story!

That would be quite scary to come across, because you don't want to fight your natural instinct in cases like this! My driving instructor told me to always check both ways on the railway line when going through a level crossing, just in case the lights/barrier are broken, and I still do, even after 12 years of driving. It's a good habit to get into!

About Me

I am 30-mumble, married, and I work from home.
We have approximately no children which is the biggest conversation killer for meeting new people. A dog just doesn't seem to cut it for the purpose of mutual child-related bragging.
I was always mad-keen on horses, although I haven't ridden for years. I also have a masochistic desire to learn ancient Greek. One of the few words I can remember is that for a passion for horses, hence the name.